Iterative vs. Incremental Development
When developers begin to develop your software, they have to pick one suitable software development method. This method should fulfill the client’s requirements and product specifications of their business project.
Although there are various development methods available, most developers pick the iterative or incremental framework. Learning how these methods work, can assist you to pick the best one from Iterative vs Incremental development.
The incremental model and Iterative model are used interchangeably in the agile and Scrum approaches. Even though both methods are used by many custom software development companies, there are certain key differences between them.
In this article, we will compare iterative and incremental approaches. We will also see their pros and cons and explore their real-world examples. So, let’s begin with the actual debate on Iterative vs Incremental development.
What is Iterative Development? Brief overview
The iterative development approach is a process that helps IT professionals to develop features and functions using repeated iterations or cycles. The product is made, tested, and modified on the basis of customer feedback after each custom software development lifecycle method.
A new version of that product is released with updated functionalities after each iteration is completed. Finally, in the end, the final product is developed after fulfilling all feedback from the customer.
Iterative development aims to enhance product quality by allowing in-depth feedback from the client. This process tests small parts of the whole project; this makes it easy to find and fix the problems in the project.
While working with iterative development, each product begins with one aim that developers gradually fulfill during the whole development process. If the development team is skilled enough, they can easily understand the client’s requirements and hence, complete the project development easily. Another factor for easy and quick development is that clients should be clear with their requirements and they should convey them properly to their clients.
Pros and Cons of the Iterative Development Model
The iterative development method helps your team design, develop and test the project continuously. After each iteration, the development team asks for user and stakeholder feedback. After leveraging this feedback, developers create the next iteration accordingly.
Pros of Iterative Development
Here’s the list of primary benefits of the iterative development model:
- The iterative model simplifies risk management by finding risks while developing iterations
- Early and quick client engagement
- Allows clients to give high-quality feedback and suggestions
- Allowing multiple activities in one iteration
- The flexibility feature allows updating the project as per the client’s requirements
- You can get maximum business value in a short period of time
- Clients can easily visualize their app evolution
- A good alternative for complex and high-risk projects
- Easy to debug and test small cycles and hence there are very few defects in the final software
- Improves the products and services
- It is a cost-effective and straightforward development method
Along with advantages, there are certain risks associated with iterative development. Let’s have a look at them as well:
Cons of the Iterative development model
- It might need additional resources as time passes
- Development iterations do not overlap and hence completion time increase
- Developers need to provide intensive project management
- The system architecture affects the process as there are no static requirements defined in the beginning.
Let’s see when developers can use the Iterative development method for easy development.
Iterative Development- When to use?
Various things affect product delivery. The iterative approach is a good alternative for different projects that includes regular deliveries. Such projects include repeated iterations which help with constant improvement and checking.
An iterative method of development allows the development team to focus on gathering requirements and feedback. In this process, it involves a continuous cycle of:
- Designing
- Planning
- Testing
- Implementing
- Evaluating
The iterative development method is suitable for projects that have tight deadlines. It helps in shortening the application’s time to market. The features of such apps can enhance with time as your team will finish only a few features in each new release.
One can use the iterative approach while working on projects like:
- Large enterprise project
- When anticipating future product updates
There are many more suitable situations where you can use an iterative approach. But the two mentioned above are the popular ones. Now let’s see what an incremental development model is.
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What is Incremental Development? Brief overview
Incremental development includes developing different products in little portions, and each piece individually. Now, the team cautiously builds features until they develop the final software. The client can only see the final product once it is completed.
In this model, the development team can understand the software goals and the outcome product. The software is in sections or increments that support each other. The development team one area after the other until the whole puzzle project is completed.
Incremental development develops a product in small and successive parts called increments or sections. Each increment or section is a standalone part that goes into the design, requirements, execution, and testing phases.
In this way, each release adds new functionalities to the prior increment until every specified requirement is not implemented. The final product will be delivered after the final phase of this process.
Now, let’s see some notable pros and cons of incremental development models.
Pros and Cons of the Incremental Development Model
The incremental development method helps the team to develop each increment and perform its design, development, and testing. Here are some primary advantages of the incremental development model:
Pros of incremental development
- It can finish different modules at different time
- Incremental development is a good choice for projects that have tight budgets and changing the aim or requirement is not a scope in the near future
- A working model is developed from the beginning that ensures the rapid and quick delivery
- Parallel and quick development allows the teams to focus on different sections at the same time
- The chances of product failure decrease as it is easy to search for errors in every module before moving forward with another module.
Along with the pros, incremental development has some potential risks:
- One has to be clear with whole project requirements before starting the development process
- Issues may occur while integrating an iterative model
- It can be an expensive choice sometimes
After learning the basic overview of the incremental approach, let’s see when one can use the incremental development method.
Incremental Development- When to use?
This development method is a good alternative for software or apps that involves small deliveries of fixed and clear scope.
You can use this development method when you are working on below given projects:
- The aim of the project and its needs are clear and undisputed
- The project requirement is a new technology
- When your project includes high-risk opportunities and objectives
- When a faster time to market is necessary and the product is in high demand in the market
After understanding the basics of both iterative and incremental development methods, let’s know the differences between them.
Iterative vs Incremental development- Primary differences
Incremental and iterative both methods are software development structures that show how to deliver high value to the project. The primary difference between these approaches is their way to develop the project.
In the iterative method, the custom software development process is finished in a series of iterations or cycles. Each cycle includes finishing a little portion of the whole project. The most important portions are developed first. The main goal of every iteration is to make a functional version of the project that can be refined, tested, and evaluated.
On the other side, the incremental approach will focus on delivering a complete project at one time. The primary increment or section is the core functionality of the software that fulfills the basic needs before supplementary features. Every increment is developed based on the previous increment and gradually the complete project is formed.
After reading these differences, now let’s understand which method is better than the other.
Iterative vs Incremental Development- which one is better?
The iterative development method and incremental approach ensure that the software development process remains effective and smooth.
Incremental development allows the team to make adjustments earlier in the prior stage. You do not have to wait for the final phase when you are out of money or time.
The Iterative method ensures continuous improvements. Hence, your development team will deliver a high-quality product almost within the decided timeline.
Iterative and incremental development methods work amazingly well together to achieve the result in the process of agile development. Agile development will balance both methods well. Their functions support each other to improve the whole process.
For example, you can quickly release and test a beta version of your final project before its complete launch. Quick and easy feedback from the client and users will assist you to avoid potential errors in the final product.
Incremental vs Iterative development method- Our Final Verdict
In the end, both methods have some valuable approaches to support the software development process. Each method has its considerations and strengths.
Iterative development is flexible and adaptable throughout the development phase. It also provides features of continuous feedback and incorporates improvements and changes in the future time. This method is beneficial when needs are uncertain or keep on changing. It also promotes early mitigation and identification of issues and risks.
In contrast, incremental methods focus on giving the software a more predictable and structured approach. It is especially effective when the project requirements are clear, stable, and well-defined.
Finally, the choice is yours. If you want to pick an iterative or incremental method, it will depend on different factors like your project complexity, the uncertainty level of your project, deadline requirements, and your team’s expertise. It is important to carefully monitor the software’s alignment and characteristics.
For more information on similar topics, stay tuned with us. Happy reading!
